I'm driving a 2018 Prius Prime (plug-in). What do you want to know about it?

[Vman455]

Ah, she has an Advanced.

Could you live with this car with only occasional charging at public stations (that's the boat I'm in--I live in an apartment with no provision for charging, and I don't plan to buy a house anytime soon since I have to pay for school. Otherwise, I'm the perfect use case for a PHEV)?
Do you feel like cargo volume is limited by the larger battery?
Do you miss the second glove box, underfloor trunk storage, and under console storage of the Gen 3 Prius?
How's the wind and road noise?
Any visibility distortion from the wavy rear window?
How well does it autocross?

[oil pan 4]

I have been looking at newish prius prime and holey crap do they suffer catastrophic depreciation.
Definitely won't need a loan to get one.
The volt is holding value marginally better.

[MetroMPG]

I got 39 miles / 63 km from a full charge to empty. Compare that to the official EPA range of 25 miles / 40 km.

Conditions:

• Dry roads, warm weather (mid to upper-70's / mid-20's C).

Settings:

• ECO drive mode (dulls/smooths out throttle response);
• EV mode (vs. 'EV Auto' mode, which may fire the gas engine sooner under higher loads);
• A/C off, windows open;
• Tire pressure at factory settings.

Driving techniques:

Basic eco-driving techniques -- this was no heroic hypermiling effort.

• 100% sub/urban driving; max posted limit of 60 km/h = 37 mph;
• Gradual acceleration (when not holding up following traffic);
• Looking well ahead to pick the lane with the best flow to minimize speed changes;
• Coasting to stops/turns as much as possible (when not holding up following traffic).

Note: I live in a sleepy little city with fairly laid-back drivers. I'd say about half the time I was accelerating/coasting, there was nobody close behind, so I could do my own thing.

With a bit more effort, I'm sure 70+ km / 44+ miles is doable in good conditions.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

It probably only applies to the first gen volt.
The gasoline engine ran above 70 mph.

I can't find any info about that. Can you share a link? What I am reading is the ICE powers the wheels directly at 70+ MPH, but only if it was already running (eg. the EV range was depleted and the generator/ICE was on). EG: link, link, link. In charge-sustaining mode, the generator/ICE "cheats" via a clutch that connects it to the transmission/wheels above 70 MPH.


As far as I know, as long as the battery isn't empty, both generations of the Volt will run up to top speed solely on electric power.

As far as acceleration goes my leaf can light up the ecopia tires a little. I doubt it will be able to get much more than a squeek out of the yoko avid ascend tires.

I did hear the front tires "slip" yesterday when I pulled out into a smaller gap in traffic than usual. Not a squeal/chirp. But to be honest, I haven't tried flooring the accelerator yet.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Vman455

Could you live with this car with only occasional charging at public stations (that's the boat I'm in--I live in an apartment with no provision for charging, and I don't plan to buy a house anytime soon since I have to pay for school. Otherwise, I'm the perfect use case for a PHEV)?

I'd say if your typical driving distance/routine would let you use EV mode for local driving without having to visit chargers inconveniently often, why not? Big "it depends" answer.

I'd probably go for a Volt in that case, though.

Do you feel like cargo volume is limited by the larger battery?

I definitely noticed the missing cargo volume. The rear load floor is quite high. So much so that when you fold the rear seats down, check out the transition "ramps" Toyota added down to the seatback area:




Would that be a deal-breaker for me? No. Plus if it's possible to put a hitch on it, I would. (For a bike rack! Not for a warranty-voiding light utility trailer!)

How's the wind and road noise?

Much better than my interior-gutted 2000 Metro and the 1990 MPGiata!

Any visibility distortion from the wavy rear window?

Haven't noticed anything odd there yet. It is weird though. Toyota says it's an aero-enhancing feature.

How well does it autocross?

Much better than my interior-gutted 2000 Metro! Maybe not as well as the 1990 MPGiata, though.

[redpoint5]

Adding a trailer doesn't automatically void the warranty. They still have to show cause that the trailer resulted in the failure. If a window motor stops working, nobody is going to say it's not covered due to the trailer. Besides all that, I wouldn't mention what I hook up to the hitch. It's on them to determine what caused a failure.

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I'd say if your typical driving distance/routine would let you use EV mode for local driving without having to visit chargers inconveniently often, why not? Big "it depends" answer.

I'd probably go for a Volt in that case, though.

It's exactly 2.4 miles driving distance from my apartment to the college; work is 0.8 miles, so I exclusively walk. I make 6 trips to school each week, for a total of 28.8 miles. Today, since I was early for class, I drove the loop around campus for the first time just to see it and noticed there are two EV charging stations!

Still, I can't justify a new plug-in since I have a paid-off car with less than 70,000 miles on it. Plus, a 16-week semester means my school trips will use...less than one tank of gas. Plus again, the carbon footprint for the manufacture of another new car when I have a perfectly functioning one far outweighs the carbon saved by commuting electrically, especially since our power is mostly coal-generated, with a small portion wind and a smaller portion solar. But it's nice to dream.

[oil pan 4]

What ever you do don't buy a new one.
It looks like they loose around $10,000 in resale just in the first year.

[ProDigit]

22 miles, wouldn't even get me to work, forget coming back from work...
I only have 1 question you wouldn't be able to answer in the time you have the car.
How long before the battery dies?
My friend had the 1st gen Prius, and another the 2nd gen Prius C. And both of them barely had any range left after 5-6 years or 40-50k miles.

A new battery costs an arm and a leg, and I'm just wondering how long these will last.

Shouty Kilmer made a video on one of these, with a bad alternator/electric motor. And the replacement cost was out of this world.
I'd never buy one. If I had to get one, it'd be either a Nissan Leaf, or a Chevy Bolt.
But for now, I got a nice and peppy gasoline car that keeps up with the 4 cylinder mustangs and camaros.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

22 miles, wouldn't even get me to work, forget coming back from work...
I only have 1 question you wouldn't be able to answer in the time you have the car.
How long before the battery dies?
My friend had the 1st gen Prius, and another the 2nd gen Prius C. And both of them barely had any range left after 5-6 years or 40-50k miles.

A new battery costs an arm and a leg, and I'm just wondering how long these will last.

Shouty Kilmer made a video on one of these, with a bad alternator/electric motor. And the replacement cost was out of this world.
I'd never buy one. If I had to get one, it'd be either a Nissan Leaf, or a Chevy Bolt.
But for now, I got a nice and peppy gasoline car that keeps up with the 4 cylinder mustangs and camaros.

Many people are getting 30+ miles of EV range, which I expect you would being in FL. After the EV range is used up, it's still a 55 MPG car.

The Gen II and Gen III Prius use NiMh batteries, which probably don't hold up as well as Li-ion. Still, FL is tough on vehicles that don't have active thermal management. For this reason, the Leaf would be a poor choice for you. The Spark EV has active thermal management, but I don't think they sold those outside of CA, OR, and maybe WA.